BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The mechanisms that protect female upper genital tract from ascending infection by microbes present in vagina are only partially understood. It is expected that epithelial cells in mucosal surfaces and their secretions directly interfere with microbial colonization and invasion. This study was aimed to demonstrate the expression of 2 kDa antimicrobial peptide which was i...

The resource allocation hypothesis predicts that reproductive activity suppresses immunocompetence; however, this has never been tested in an endemic disease system with free-ranging mammals. We tested the resource allocation hypothesis in wild deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) with natural exposure to Sin Nombre Virus (SNV). Immunocompetence was estimated from the extent of swelling elicited ...

18 Eusocial insect colonies are defined by extreme variation in reproductive activity among 19 castes, but the ancestral conditions from which this variation arose are unknown. 20 Investigating the factors that contribute to variation in reproductive physiology among 21 solitary insects that are closely related to social species can help to fill this gap. We 22 experimentally tested the role of...

The study of aging has been dominated by the analysis of degenerative changes in somatic tissues that influence life span, since the decline of life support systems is the cause of age-related death. Reproduction, which is a vital goal of all organisms, also displays an age-related decline. However, this aspect of aging has received much less attention, since the consequence is not death but ra...

18 Eusocial insect colonies are defined by extreme variation in reproductive activity among 19 castes, but the ancestral conditions from which this variation arose are unknown. 20 Investigating the factors that contribute to variation in reproductive physiology among 21 solitary insects that are closely related to social species can help to fill this gap. We 22 experimentally tested the role of...

Availability of physical cash is a vehicle for reproductive activity because its availability and accessibility determines in terms conception among married couples. Stable economic panacea to take place. The study aim investigate the Effects Cashless Policy on Reproductive Activity Married Women Urban Areas South-South Nigeria. involves 260 women between 18 37 years age. was cross sectional qu...

Reproductive tract tumours, specifically leiomyoma, are commonly found in female rhinoceroses. Similar to humans, tumour growth in rhinoceroses is thought to be sex hormone dependent. Tumours can form and expand from the onset of ovarian activity at puberty until the cessation of sex-steroid influences at senescence. Extensive tumour growth results in infertility. The aim of this study was to d...

To optimally time reproduction, animals must coordinate changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. The extent of intra-species variation in seasonal timing of reproductive function is considerable, both within and among populations. Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) populations are known to differ in their reproductive timing response to cues experienced in the same habitat in late...